Method of burning brick



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J. C. ANDERSON. METHOD OP BURNING BRICK.

No. 379,041. 1"a,'l;en1;ed` Mar. 6,1888.

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METHOD OP'BURNING BRICK.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

JAMES O. ANDERSON, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF BURNING BRICK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,041, dated March 6, 1888.

Application filed August 17, 1887. Serial No. 247,205. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern-.- y

Be it known that I, J AMES O. ANDERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Burning Brick, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

This invention relates tothe method of burning bricks and other clay products. l

Kilns of various forms have been constructed Vhaving a number of cells or separate apartments, in which a portion of the waste heat which escapes in cooling the brick is transferred from department to department and made to do duty in drying and gradually heating the brick to be burned, a good type of which is the well-known Hoffman kiln; but in all such kilns the brick to be burned must be set in the various departments of the kiln in units and removed from the same department after the drying and burning has taken place by the same slow process.

Attempts have been made to load the bricks upon small movable platforms, where they have been gradually moved through a single channel-way, much like a smoke-stack laid upon its side, allowing the brick to come in the top or smoke end through the tail of the flame gradually to the hotter part and source thereof, such attempts being non-productive of practicalaresults. In all cases where motion was imparted to the body to be burned the object sought after was the moving forward of the body through a single channel-way during the burning operation alone, and no tangible advance had been conceived or means afforded for transporting the brick'beyond this point upon suitable vehicles to the point of delivery in the different cities of the country in the original package upon which they were placed directly from the molding mechanism.

My invention relates, broadly, to the method of burning brick in which a procession of the green brick will pass side by side in intimate conjunction with a like procession of the hot burned brick, which, in the operation of cooling,are made to give up their heat to the loaded procession or'cars of green brick for drying, watersmoking,and heating the same; and, fur

ther, in the raising of the heat to the burningpoint of the brick; and, finally, projecting a heat, heretofore unattainable in the art of brick-burning, for shrinking the same, by

causing the water smoke and gaseous products of combustion to unite and burst into flame at the point where the intense heat is necessary to make the operation practicable, thus utilizing the water smoke, which has been the chief factor heretofore in t-he retarding of the firing of kilns, and converting the same into a fuel.

Myinvention consists in the method of burning brick in a continuous kiln, which consists in passing two bodies of brick past each other in opposite directions, past suitable furnaces, which burn the brick to the proper point, whereby the heated and burned portion of each of the brickhodies is utilized to heat and water-smoke the brick in the other column or body of brick.

It further consists in the method of utilizing the water smoke as a portion of the fuel by converting it into a hydrogen gas and mingling it with the hydrocarbon or other gas of the fuel used in burning the brick.

In order that a complete understanding of my invention may be had, I will say in this connection that the time occupied in burning the brick in this kiln may be divided into three stages-wiz., one in which the water smoke is eliminated and the bricks raised gradually to a red heat; second, a period in which the bricks are raised to a white heat; and, third, a period in which the bricks are subjected to a regenerative flame from the furnace, combined with the hydrogen gas formed from the water smoke, which I term the period of shrinking, or point in which the highest heat is reached to convert the brick into pottery.

Referring to the drawings, Figure I is a longitudinal horizontal sectional View of the double tunnels with the cars therein. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line X X of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a det-ached view of a portion of the ear-body, showing the devices for forming the air-seal. Fig. 4 is aplan view of a central portion of the'kiln through the furnaces on the line X X'of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a top or plan view, partly in section, of the kiln, the ends being contracted, so as to show IOO the direction of the products of combustion. Fig. 6 is a top or plan view of a portion of the kiln, partly in section. Fig. 7 is a side view, partly in section, taken on theline X2 X2 of Fig. 6. Fig. S isa vertical sectional view of the kiln with the cars removed, and taken on the line X3 X3 of Fig. 5. Fig. 9 is a vertical sectional view ofa portion ofone ofthe arches, taken on theline Z Z of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view ofa kiln having canals instead of tracks, adapted to receive boats loaded with the brick to be burned. Fig. 1l is an end view, partly in section, of the platform of a car partly loaded with brick. Fig. 12 is a side view, partly inseetion, ofthe ends of two cars, showing the setting of the brick and the filling between the cars to protect the couplings from the heat of the furnaces. Fig. 13 is a view in perspective of the platform used between the cars on which the bricks are piled.

A indicates the kiln, which is composed of two parallel walls, B and C, and a central or partition wall, D, dividing the kiln into two longitudinal chambers or tunnels, E and F, each covered by separate arches which rest upon and are supported by the partition-wall D and the outer walls, B and C.

The kiln is, by preference, about two hundred feet in length, in order to receive eight cars twenty-five feet long in each tunnel, and about iifteen or sixteen feet wide, the tunnels being` wide enough to receive cars or boats adapted to travel on tracks or iloat in canals located in each tunnel.

rlhe inner walls or linings of the kiln at the furnaces, together with the central or partition wall, are composed of lirebrick or other lireresisting material, while the outer walls are built of ordinary brick.

G are the furnaces, located in the outer walls of and occupya position near the center of each tunnel, said furnaces being of the ordinary kind, having the usual grate-bars, ashpits, doors, and draft-regulators. That portion of each tunnel adjacent to each furnace is double-walled, so as to form a chamber or ue, H, leading from the furnace over the top and down one side of the tunnel, as shown in Fig. 2, when it opens through numerous perforations, I, into the adjacent tunnel, exposing the brick on the car in this portion of the kiln to the direct action ol' the regenerative flame, while the brick on the car adjacent the furnace receives the heat transmitted through the arch or lining of the tunnel.

The products of combustion, after passing through the bricks in the opposite tunnel, as above described, enter a chamber or flue, K, through perforations L, are carried over the top of the tunnel to the other side of the kiln to the space or llue M,left in the walls or lining of the tunnel along the entire side of the incoming brick to the stack N at this end of the kiln, for the purposeof heating that side of the tunnel and utilizing the tail of the lame throughout its entire length, the object of carrying the dame along this side of the kiln being to gradually heat the sides of the brick on the loaded ear farthest from the outgoing hot brick, and thus equalize the drying and heating process and preventing the brick from becoming warped,whieh would be the casein this portion of the kiln if these hot-air channels were not provided.

Thus far I have described the operation of one furnace only; but the same operation takes place in the other furnace, its action serving to burn the brick in the adjacent tunnel, and the waste products of combustion being utilized in like manner to heat the entrance end of its particular tu n nel to water-smoke the bricks. rIhe central or partition wall, D, from the furnaces to each end of the kiln are provided with numerous openings, O, which virtually make these portions of the kiln one chamber, and through which the heat given off through the burned brick is transmitted tothe adjacent tunnel, to raise the temperature of thc brick in this portion of the tunnel to a red heat before they are pushed forward to receive the more intense heat direct from the furnaces,or which may be transmit-ted through their respective arches.

In giving a more complete description of the operation of the kiln I will state that the cars containing the green or newly-made brick are admitted to the tunnels from opposite ends ofthe kiln,two at a time, one at each end, and are moved in the direction of the arrows, as shown in Fig. l, and that the heat from the burned brick onthe outgoing cars in onetunnel, after they pass the furnaces, is utilized to watersmoke and heat to a red heat the bricks in the adjacent tunnel. For example, the bricks on the cars l 2 3 in tunnel E have been burned, and in cooling the heat passes through the opening O into tunnel F and heats the green brick on the ears 4 5 6, eliminating thev water smoke from the brick on cars 5 and 6 and heating the brick on car No. 4 to a red heat prior to being pushed into the furnace-eham ber I, when the transmitted heat from the furnace raises the temperature of the bricks to a white heat, where, after remaining theproper length of time, until another shift of ears is made, when ear No. 4 takes itsposition in front of the furnace in the other tunnel,where it meets with the regenerative flame from said furnace and the temperature of the bricks still further raised until the shrinking or pottery point is reached. At this point I also utilize the water smoke which has passed from the brick on cars Nos. 5 and 6, the same having passed forward in the tunnel and been raised to the proper temperature to ignite when brought into Contact and mingled with the gas of the fuel used in the furnace, thereby producing a most intense heat and reducing the actual cost of fuel.

It will be noticed that by this construction of kiln the fires in the furnaces are constantly kept at the same degree of intensity, and the destructive effect of heating and cooling, which causes thearches and furnace-linings to ex- ICO IIO

pand and contract, is obviated, as the work of burning and drying is always the same; and, furthermore, the bricks being subjected to gradually-increasing temperature, there is no danger of loss by cracking.

The bottoms of the cars are protected from Vthe effect of the 'heat by means of layers of asbestus felt, R, or other suitable material, and sheet-iron, S, the sheet-iron being extended down the side of the car a shortvdistance, so as to project into metallic troughs T, secured to the lsides of the tunnel, said troughs being adapted to hold water, so as to form a seal, which not only prevents the escape of the heat from the kiln,but also prevents the ingress of cold air.

In Fig. 13 I have shown a sheet-iron pan or trough, H2, adapted to iit between the cars and extend from one side of the cars to the other, and is provided with downwardly-projected ianges I2, which project below the fire-line of the arches. These pans or troughs are designed to hold a re-proof filling, K2, of asbestus or other suitable fire-resisting material, and on which, when placed in position between the cars, the bricks are piled. This arrangement not only increases the holding capacity of the kiln, but protects the ends of the cars and the couplings from the direct action of the heat.

In Figs. 1l and 12 I have shown the manner in which the bricks are set on the cars for burn` ing, the object of which is to leave openings through which the heat can readily pass, so as to more rapidly burn the brick.

In Fig. l0 I have shown a canal or waterway through the kiln for the reception of boats or scows on which the bricks to be burned are piled, the arrangement of tunnels, flues, furnaces, &c., being the same as those already described, the only point of difference being the substitution of canals for the boats instead of tracks for the cars.

l Having thus described my invention,'what claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

brick in a continuous kiln, which consists in passing two bodies of brick past each other in opposite directions, past suitable furnaces, which burn the brick to the proper point, whereby the heated and burned portions of each of the brick-bodies are utilized to heat and water-smoke the brick in the other column or body of brick, as set forth.

2. The method herein described of burning brick in a continuous kiln, which consists of passing two trains of cars loaded with the brick to be burned through tunnels in opposite directions, said brick being burned by the direct and transmitted heat from suitable furnaces located at both sides of the tunnels, the heat of the burned brick on the cars in one tunnel being imparted to water-smoke and partially burn the green brick on the cars in the adjacent tunnel, as set forth.

3. The method herein described of burning brick, which consists in decomposing and utilizing the water-smoke, as hydrogen gas, generated in the initial burning of the green brick by superheating and projecting the saine into the hottest part of the kiln and causing said gases to impinge and ignite at this point with the gaseous products of combustion of the fuel from the furnaces, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 15th day of August, A. D. 1887.

J. C. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

L. W. SINsABAUGH, J. C. CUsHMAN. 

